Southerner, The (1945)
Director: Jean Renoir
Honors:
Life is a series of ups and downs and it is left to the
individual to make of it what the best he/she can. During what would be the
final year of World War II comes an independent feature with a story of a man
determined to make it on his own in The
Southerner. Directed by French born filmmaker Jean Renoir, this picture
would use his simple European undertones and uplifting story to make this feature
what most consider his finest work within the United States.
The Southerner is
a drama of a Texas sharecropper determined to start his own farm with his
family despite all the obstacles that come his way. Tired of working long,
laborious hours on farms purely for the gain of others for little pay Sam
Tucker (Zachary Scott) decided the only way he may prosper in life is to start
a farm of his own. Packing up everything he owns, including loving wife Nona
(Betty Field), Granny (Beulah Bondi), and the kids, Sam sets out for a little
piece of land to make it on his own. The land is tough, their shack of a house
is literally falling apart, and the well is dry, but Sam is determined to make
his own farm out of it.
Troubles befall the Tucker clan as they barely survive a
cold, harsh winter followed by his children falling ill with vitamin
deficiencies. Aside from personal issues a jealous neighbor by the name of Devers (J. Carrol Naish) unwilling to even
lend Sam’s family water when they are in need. Through it all Sam attempts to
keep his head up to supply for his faithful wife and children. With kindness
and friendship Sam recieves a little help from generous locals and the farm
appears on the brink of prosperity. However when things appear to turn around
the Tucker farm runs afoul with the likes of Devers destroying his crop in
jealousy or a severe storm washing away nearly everything. However Sam and Nona
continue to have faith to start over again, ever determined to make the farm
work.
The picture is rather simple with flat characters, making it
a rather uninteresting picture at first look. In an age of cinema when the
world was at war making audiences more callus to the happy-go-lucky movies of
prior decades, The Southerner feels a
bit out of place when compared to its mid-1940s counterparts. Its story of a
man and his family ever pushing forward lends to a feel good story, however his
dream appear to ever be doomed to fail by unforeseen circumstances, which
perhaps may be the poetic side of this flat film. The story of Sam and Nona is
a dream image of a couple attempting to live out an ideal American dream, but
it feels forced as they are only momentarily discouraged with life’s harsh bumps,
but are hardly ever challenged as they go through their story arch.
Renior’s filmmaking skill contains the influences of his European
style with his wonderful use of black and white imagery. He creates a picture
that appears coarse and gritty with its setting and story of hardship, while at
the same time remains exuberance when the characters are cheerful while on the
edge of making their dreams come true. As an independent feature, the film does
feel a bit more cheaply constructed, but Renoir uses his simplicity to create a
film that appears a bit bigger than what the production has to offer.
 |
| Betty Field as Nona willing the earth to provide for the family |
Somewhat still new to the Hollywood community, The Southerner stars Zachary Scott as
Sam Tucker, the determined farmer, who when life gets him down he continues to
try and make it work better for him and his family. A native Texan and former
ranch hand, Scott became a Broadway actor before taking his acting to Hollywood
in 1941. 1945 was a big year for Scott as not only would be star here in The Southerner, but he also appeared opposite
Joan Crawford in the critically acclaimed Mildred
Pierce. Despite his clean portrayal as Sam, Scott would make his name known
playing more villainous or mysterious roles.
Scott’s co-star was actress Betty Field as his ever loving
and faithful wife Nona. A native New Englander, Field too was a Broadway actress
who found work on the screen. She often
rotated where she was working, although preferred Broadway over Hollywood.
J. Carroll Naish portrays the picture’s primary antagonist
in Devers, the rotten neighbor that wishes for Sam’s failure as a farmer. The
story of Devers at first feels unwarranted as he has no heart for a unfortunate,
kindly neighbor, but it is discovered that Devers had a background not
dissimilar to Sam. Devers had made himself a living out of nothing, but in his
hard work he became cold to the world as no one helped him as he made his living,
unlike Sam sometimes relying of the kindness of others for moments of support.
Naish was a well-traveled actor with brief moments of career recognition, however
his work tended to lie primarily in shorts, serials, and B-movies from the
1930s to the late 1950s.
Norman Lloyd plays Devers’ nephew and harmful accomplice
Finlay, a rodent-faced redneck that does the bidding of his uncle, including
damage to the Tucker crops. Lloyd’s part is small, not much more than a goon,
but his background as a member of the famed Mercury Theatre, but left the troupe
before Orson Welles took the company to produce his masterpiece Citizen Kane in 1939, a missed
opportunity of that may have taken his career different directions.
The wonderfully crass Granny in the picture is played by
Beulah Bondi, a veteran actor of about every medium an actress was needed in.
Her portrayal of Granny is at times very difficult to swallow, as she is a loud
character that tags along with the Tuckers and openly wishes for Sam’s failure,
so that she can go to their old home, always stating things where better in the
past. Perhaps she serves as the
character in which we partially watch this story through as she is the one
always thinking Sam should just fold up shop and go find another line of work,
something as a viewer you feel too. However, due to her negativity both Sam and
the audience somehow feel more determined, and when Sam and Nona feel they have
an honest chance to make things great and happy for the family, Granny too
cannot help, but feel love and gratitude. Bondi’s performance now seems so very
cliché, but it is charming to watch her portrayal of this classic little old
lady that does very little more than bicker.
The Southerner
would open to mixed to favorable reviews with critics, but appeared to resonate
with those audiences that turned out to view the picture during the later
period of World War II. Its simple story of determination through adversity served
as a feel good story to many. The film earned itself three Academy Award
nominations including one for director Jean Renoir, making it the best received
American produced picture in the career of the French filmmaker that left
Europe when Germany invaded his homeland.
After the war Renoir would take his feature film back to
Europe and enter in into the reintroduced 1946 Venice Film Festival, playing
opposite many of France and Italy’s finest films. Renoir would come away for
the festival’s grand prize as best picture, an award that before the war was represented
by a prize called the Mussolini Cup.
Today The Southerner
is a very little known feature of American cinema’s past. This is made ever
more evident in the fact that the picture fell in to public domain as the
owners lapsed on its copyright. It is not a feature to go searching for in any
one’s film library, but it serves as a quaint, charming American feature,
produced by one of France’s more celebrated filmmakers during a time when movies
were about to change.
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment